First Day School News

The First Day School curriculum development group

The first two weeks of the new school year have gone well. On September 9, the First Day School and Youth Programs Committee hosted a great breakfast for youth, their families, and teachers. About 50 people came to that, including a new family. Overall that day between the breakfast, nursery, First Day School, Teen Worship, and Meeting for Worship, we had 31 youth in the building. The next week, on September 16, we had 21 youth between First Day School and the Nursery and yet another new family. I am excited about the attendance so far.

The curriculum has been going well so far and I am talking with parents as we go along. We have made some minor adjustments, such as having a shorter initial time as the whole group and singing, then dividing up so that Pre-K through 2nd Graders have time together as a separate group, and finally coming back as a whole group to end in silence.

The Curriculum Planning Group had a fantastic and productive meeting together on Saturday, September 15, where we continued working on the school year and mapping out sub themes to go along with the overall theme of Journeys. Right now, we are talking about Welcoming and the theme for October and November will be Agents of Change.

If you are interested in attending the Curriculum Planning Group or volunteering with the First Day School program, please let me know! I am always happy to have more people involved.

Recent FMC Events

A New Look for the Friends Center Entry Way!

Everyone is excited about the new entry way. More changes to come!

Stone of Hope Drumming

Touching the Inner Spirit with a Beat. Drumming with Toussaint Liberator continues on Thursday evenings from 6:30 pm-8:00 pm in the Meetinghouse. Donations for our teacher are requested, $0 to $20 as you are able for FMC Community and $10 – $20 outside FMC.
From our participants:

Drum Circle is a highlight of my week. I always feel better after our time together. When I was young I loved participating in music. This is my first time making music as an adult. While I’m well into middle age, learning to drum with Toussaint and the drum circle makes me feel young again. Toussaint is a wonderful teacher and the group has been steady. We all feel inspired and encouraged. We’ve been learning together to drum and to talk about race and racial justice. Making music and being together every week allows us to approach hard conversations and to get to know one another over time. I hope we will continue a long, long time and that we will branch out from making music and getting to know one another to including others in our circle and moving out of the circle to act on the ideas we are sharing about social and racial justice.

This is one of the most important things in my life!”

The drumming circle is soothing and restorative. I work stopping abuse in families. My job is stressful and listening to the news raises my blood pressure. How amazing to have found a panacea to daily stress. Thank you Toussaint for offering the healing that drumming offers us. It’s music therapy, exercise and laughter rolled up together.

Announcements

Bolivian Quaker Education Fund (BQEF)

Update on our support of a Bolivian Quaker Student. Many thanks to those who have contributed to sponsor Quaker Bolivian students over the past several years. Our FMC sponsorship of $850 through individual donations this year will enable a Quaker student from an impoverished background to complete college training. Our most recent student, Ximena Mendoza Limachi graduated and we are ready to be assigned another from a waiting list.

The fund, administered by Friends in Fredonia, New York, is organized by volunteers. We have previously sent in contributions individually. We are now asked to collect checks and forward them as a group to simplify bookkeeping. Please send your contributions made out to Bolivian Quaker Education Fund to the FMC Office at 5 Longfellow Park, Cambridge, MA, 02138.

Pastoral Care

Our FMC Community of Hope provides the following types of care and support to individuals within our community:

a Friendly visit to someone’s home or a visit to someone in a hospital or nursing home;

accompaniment to a medical appointment;

preparing and/or delivering meals;

a conversation to assist in determining the need for a Support or a Clearness Committee;

a supportive visit and listening presence during a challenging life experience; and

sending cards on behalf of FMC.

If you, or someone you know within our FMC community, might benefit from one of these care and support activities, please let us know. You may reach the program by emailing your request to PastoralCare@fmcquaker.org or calling Diana Lopez, Pastoral Care Coordinator, at 617-312-8304.

Special Events

Forums

October 7: No forum. Intergenerational Breakfast from 9:00-10:15am in the Friends Room. Food provided!

October 14: “Faith into Practice” Will Taber from Fresh Pond Meeting will share his own and his meeting’s journey regarding participation in the Voluntary Carbon Tax.

October 21: Worship Sharing about your Spiritual Giving Journey: How has your relationship to giving changed over time? Queries will be presented by the Fundraising Committee.

October 28: “What Do You Long for on Your Spiritual Journey?” Group discussion of Chapter 2 (Seeking) pages 18-26 of Our Life Is Love: The Quaker Spiritual Journey by Marcelle Martin. No need to have read the chapter to participate!

Please join us for forum every fourth Sunday, when we will explore the Quaker Spiritual Journey through Marcelle Martin’s book, Our Life is Love. One Sunday a month, for ten months, we will take up one of the ten elements of this journey we’re on together by sharing our stories with each other and responding to the queries that Marcelle raises up. This is an opportunity to deepen our connections to one another and to our Quaker heritage.

What is the book about? Marcelle Martin uses the words of many early Friends and contemporary Friends to explore each of ten elements of the Quaker Spiritual Journey. Each section ends with a set of queries that we can use to explore our own experiences. She also shares the ways in which she has experienced these elements in her own life.

Do I have to read the book? No! The queries that we’ll be exploring in each forum are evocative on their own, and the lives of our fellow community members are fascinating. All are welcome – whether or not you’ve done your “homework.”

Can I drop in, or do I have to commit to the whole series? Please come to as many forums in this series as you are able to. While we hope that the experience has a cumulative effect, each forum should be able to stand on its own as a time of powerful sharing.

How can I get a book? You have a few choices:

Order a hard cover, paperback, or eBook from Inner Light Books. A paperback is $17.50 plus shipping and handling.

Jennifer Hogue can order the book for you at a cost of $20. About two dollars from each sale goes toward purchasing a copy for the Meeting library. Please email your request to Jennifer Hogue at forum@fmcquaker.org. You can pay her when the book comes in.

Borrow a book from the Meeting library. There are at least two to lend.

What should I read for the next forum on October 28? Please read pages 18-25 on Seeking. We’ll be discussing the queries on page 26 at this gathering.

What are the dates and topics for the whole series so I can mark them on my calendar? I’m so glad you asked! 9/30: Longing, 10/28: Seeking, 11/25: Turning Within, 12/16: Openings, 1/27: The Refiner’s Fire, 2/24: Community, 3/24: Leadings, 4/28: The Cross, 5/26: Abiding, 6/23: Perfection.

Personal News

BABY GIRL RORY JOINS ANNA AND BEN EHLER’S FAMILY.Rory Frances Ehler was born September 13. Everybody is at home and doing well!

There will be a Memorial Meeting at FMC for Robert Webb on Saturday November 10 at 1:00 pm in the Meetinghouse, followed by a reception in the Friends Room. Robert Webb was a member and attender during the 1950’s and 60’s.
His obituary is in the Concord Journal.

Wearing Her Heart on Her Sleeve. The number on Lita Newdick’s heart refers to the number of children of immigrants who have still not been reunited with their parents. She wears it every day and says it’s a great conversation starter.

It’s so inspiring to think about how we all could visually represent an issue we passionately want to talk about! Thank you, Lita.

Cambridge Friends School

is a private, independent day school that provides an education guided by Quaker principles for grades Pre-K through 8. Founded by FMC in 1961 and located at 5 Cadbury Road in North Cambridge, the school continues under the Meeting’s care in that the our membership constitutes the Cambridge Friends School Corporation.

All-School Meeting for Worship

Tuesday, October 23, at 8:30am in the Gym.You are invited to attend the all-school meeting. In addition to the regularly scheduled weekly Meetings for Worship that occur in individual classrooms, the school community gathers in the gymnasium for all-school Meeting for Worship six times during the year. Each of these all-school Meetings are centered around one of the Quaker Testimonies of Equality, Peace, Integrity, Community, Stewardship, and Simplicity. Usually a grade-level, classroom, or buddy pairing has care of the Meeting, presents the Testimony, and poses a query for the community to reflect upon during silence.

More about the NEYM Living Faith Gathering

Living Faith is a day-long gathering of Friends from throughout New England. The event is a chance for Friends to worship together, get to know each other, share the different ways we experience and live our faith, and build community. There will be afternoon workshops. There will be a children’s program. Sliding scale: $0-$85. Registration is now open. To learn more about what to expect at this special gathering, read Lisa Graustein’s welcome letter.

Salem Quarterly Meeting

Sunday, October 28 at South Shore Preparative Meeting (under the care of FMC) in Pembroke, MA

Watch your announcement sheet for more info about what’s being planned for October 28. Everyone is invited to attend worship at 10am and stay for fellowship, a brown bag lunch, a program and a business session.

Quaker Cottage in Belfast Seeks Young Volunteers

Quaker Cottage in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is seeking young volunteers (minimum age 21) able to commit to a full year of service. Having a valid driver’s license is an asset, and a willingness to learn how to drive a minibus. Accommodation is provided, and a small stipend for food. Go to “Quaker Cottage” for more info (and Google images, too, as it’s in a spectacular setting on Black Mountain overlooking the city). Anyone interested please email Quaker Service or Dave Morton.

Quaker Voluntary Service (QVS)

2018-2019 QVS Boston Fellows

The Quaker Voluntary Service (QVS) year has begun with eight fellows living in their house in Dorchester and working at social service/change agencies in the Boston area, with support from Friends Meeting at Cambridge, other local meetings, and many individuals.

Each month this fall we will highlight two of the fellows; here are the first two:

Susan Kelly grew up in Lexington, Kentucky and is very excited to have the chance to live in Boston this year. She graduated from Haverford College in May of 2018 as a Spanish major and History of Art minor, and spent one semester abroad in Chile, which came to be the focus of her senior thesis. In this project she studied the historical importance and symbolism of the National Stadium in Santiago. Susan grew up involved with her home meeting, Lexington Friends, as well as the teen group of Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting, of which she attributes much of her spiritual growth. She is looking forward to reconnecting with Quakerism in a more intentional way this year. At Haverford, Susan spent her time playing with an Ultimate Frisbee team, working in the college library and as a Spanish teaching assistant, cooking meals in her apartment, collecting small rocks, and thinking about her dogs back at home. She is excited to be immersed in this intentional community and is looking forward to learning, growing, and working with the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center.

Margaretta Mitchell is a Philadelphia-area native transplanted to Boston by way of Wellesley College, where she majored in anthropology and minored in Biology. She became interested in healthcare access and advocacy through her previous independent studies in HIV/AIDS non-profits and, more recently, her senior thesis exploring the significance of personal genetics in the adoption community. Raised as a member of Birmingham Friends Meeting, she is excited to re-connect with Quakerism as an adult and begin to more seriously explore the values and questions central to Quaker theory and practice. Previously, Margaretta was a member of ascenDance, Wellesley’s student-run ballet company. Here, she grappled with questions of equity, community, and leadership while serving as the company’s production manager and treasurer. Margaretta is excited to begin weaving spirituality, health advocacy, and justice systems through her work at Boston Health Care for the Homeless.

Adult Forum (9:30am Sundays)

Forums are informal devotional discussions, usually with a leader and about a particular topic. They meet in the parlor and are designed to help those who attend prepare for meeting for worship. All are welcome. Forums provide good opportunities for new members, attenders, and visitors to learn more about our Meeting and what issues are of concern to the Meeting, and to get to know other individuals in the Meeting. Childcare is provided beginning at 9:15.